Jennifer Connelly Heads To ‘American Pastoral’

Oscar winner Jennifer Connolly is joining Ewan McGregor in American Pastoral as the long-gestating Philip Roth adaptation heads toward lensing next spring. Connelly will play Dawn, the former beauty queen wife of McGregor’s Seymour “Swede” Levov in the Pulitzer-winning novel. When their daughter turns revolutionary and commits a violent act of terrorism during the Vietnam War, their seemingly perfect life is shattered.

Phillip Noyce is at the helm of the Lakeshore Entertainment production, which will start filming in Pittsburgh next March – over a decade after Noyce was first set to direct Connelly and Paul Bettany as Dawn and Swede Levov, with Evan Rachel Wood then-set to play their daughter. The Lakeshore project at one point had Fisher Stevens set to direct. Noyce will now take on Pastoral after opening his sci-fi lit adaptation The Giver in August. “Jennifer Connelly is one of the great actresses of our time,” said Lakeshore CEO Tom Rosenberg. “We always wanted her to play ‘Dawn’ in American Pastoral and we’re thrilled to be working with her.” Pic is scripted by Lincoln Lawyer‘s John Romano and produced by Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi. Connelly is repped by CAA and Schiff Company.